You're not Dead
by Mutant Ninja Penguin
Summary: Set after Angel. Fang finds a girl both he and Max thought were dead. The girl gives them some surprising information. Can either group trust her? Especially when she says she knows where Angel is?
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Maximum Ride**

"Fang, where are we going next?"

Fang sighed, sitting down on the bed in one of the rooms the gang had rented to sleep in for the night. It had been two days since the Paris disaster. They hadn't gotten very far. Right now, they were rest stopping in Germany. He knew Max didn't have many good memories in Germany. He wondered for a second how she was coping, but quickly put it out of his mind.

"I don't know Star; we'll figure it out tomorrow." He said tiredly. For once, everyone else in the gang realized just how tired he was. They all wisely decided to stay quiet.

"Ok Fang, we'll talk in the morning." Kate said quietly. "We're going to go to our room, 'kay Fang?" Fang nodded, closing his eyes. He listened as the three girls trudged out, closing the door quietly behind them. He lay back all the way. The other two, Ratchet and Holden, went to their sleeping areas. Holden was on the small couch, Ratchet, the other bed.

"Night guys." Holden piped up. Ratchet grunted in response. Fang crawled all the way onto the bed and fell asleep within seconds.

"Fang, wake up!"

Fang rolled over, groaning, only to be hit in the face with a pillow. He opened his eyes, only to be welcomed with another pillow to face. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He opened his eyes all the way, but yet another pillow smacked him in the face. He glared at Ratchet.

"Sorry, but it was really tempting." He said, smirking. Fang rolled his eyes and glanced at the clock. He jumped up.

"It's three o'clock?" he glanced at the five people surrounding him. "In the afternoon?" his friends looked at the ground.

"You looked like you needed it." Maya said softly, sitting down at the foot of the bed. Kate nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, we can stay here an extra night. It's fine. We aren't going anywhere in a hurry." Kate told him gently. "You do need sleep. Especially after Paris."

Fang flashed back to Paris. The explosion, the carnage, getting screamed at by Max, and then losing Angel. The pain of it all hit him suddenly, and he sat down hard on the bed.

"You ok, man?" Holden asked cautiously. The whole group looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." He said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Where are we going next?" Star asked impatiently, starting to pace.

"We need more information on the Doomsday Group." Maya stated. "Otherwise we'll just go in circles."

"We could sneak into their base." Ratchet suggested, but everyone shook their heads.

"That would require going back to France and after Angel…" Maya trailed off, seeing Fang's expression.

"Well, what's remotely helpful in Germany?" Holden asked. Fang remembered when the Flock had split.

"Itex's headquarters was in Germany, I don't remember where though." Fang told them. Everyone else looked as doubtful as Fang felt.

"Itex is dead though, right? Or at least so broken beyond repair that they can't do anything, right?" Star asked nervously, still pacing.

"Will you stop pacing? It's not helping!" Ratchet snapped at her. She stopped in front of him.

"Oh, excuse me for actually trying to think." She scowled at him and grabbed the sunglasses off of his head. She snapped them in half and threw the pieces back at him. He stared at her incredulously.

"What the hell was that for?" he shot back, standing up as she started to pace again. "Now I'll need new ones!" Everyone in the group knew that with his enhanced senses, he needed blockers for some of his senses, like the sunglasses, or earphones. He moved forward, about to say something back, but Kate stepped in between them.

"Can you two shut up?" she asked them. They both opened their mouths, but Kate glared at them and they both wisely closed their mouths. "Finally," she muttered. She turned to Fang. "Do we have to stay in Germany? I mean, Europe is small, we could go anywhere. And they probably have headquarters on every continent. We could go back to America, probably."

"That might actually work. The problem would be finding another headquarters, or at least getting information about it. And if we went to America we could get farther away from the Flock." Maya said scornfully. The other five knew how Maya felt about Max and the others, being Max's clone.

"I want to be close enough that, if they get any information on Angel…" Fang looked away from his gang, not wanting them to see his face. Even though he wasn't in the Flock anymore, he still cared about them, especially Angel and Gazzy, being the youngest.

"How about this, we'll spend the next few days here, planning and finding more information on the Doomsday Group. We'll be close enough to hear about Angel, and we can rest. We all need it." Kate looked around at the other five. They all nodded slowly.

"Ok, now what?" Star asked, once everyone had agreed. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving." Everyone rolled their eyes at Star's appetite.

"Let's go out and eat." Holden suggested, stretching. Ratchet shrugged.

"I'm in." Maya nodded too, and everyone turned towards Kate.

"Definitely, I haven't eaten since yesterday." Kate headed towards the door.

"You coming, boss?" Ratchet asked, realizing that Fang was still in the room once everyone else had left. The other three turned to look back at him.

"I'm gonna stay here, maybe go out and fly. You guys go ahead." Maya looked at him worriedly, but followed everyone else out. Fang watched as the door closed, then got up and grabbed his black hoodie. He pulled it on, checking to make sure that his wings fit through the slits in the fabric, then walked out of the room. Walking out of the motel, he looked around and headed into the woods behind it. Looking over his shoulder again, he continued weaving in between the trees. He thought he felt eyes on him, and twisted around quickly, stopping in his tracks. Scanning the area, the tall boy couldn't find anything wrong with the landscape. He shrugged off the feeling, and turned around, the crunch of the leaves under his feet masking the short sigh of relief behind him.

He went farther into the forest until he reached a small clearing, big enough for him to spread his fourteen foot wingspan and take off. Pushing off the ground, he jumped into the air, pushing his pure black wings down to keep from falling. Quickly scanning the area one more time, he flew away, looking like a black bird in the cloudless blue sky.

He missed the girl who stepped out into the clearing, shading her eyes to watch him go.

And he missed the words she whispered as he left.

"Found you."


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Maximum Ride. **

Flying felt great. The wind moving over his wings, being able to do whatever he felt like. He focused down on the ground hundreds of feet below him. After a minute of careful scrutiny, he found his gang walking down to the small restaurant near the motel. He considered going down to join them, but something kept him up in the sky. He still felt like there were eyes on him, but no one would be able to figure out he was part human at the height he was at. He turned to face the direction Paris was. For a minute, he desperately wanted to leave, go check on Max and the hunt for Angel. He gritted his teeth, thinking about Dylan, and what Gazzy said on the plane, about him and Max.

He shut down that part of his brain and was about to go higher when he saw a streak in the trees. He stopped, staring down at the forest, waiting. He saw it again, right near the clearing he took off in. A brown and green blur. Not stopping to think of what it could be, he dove down, slowing down when he hit the treetops. Dropping under them, he landed softly, looking around quickly. Nothing looked out of place. He waited patiently until he heard a slight breath from behind him. He spun around and advanced forward slowly. He heard it again, and realized it was from behind the think oak tree right in front of him. He walked forward silently, then jumped forward, but the thing behind it turned tail and ran right before he could grab it. It was obviously part human, but he guessed it was a mutant. He chased after it, dodging around trees. He jumped, only to hit his ankle on a branch, sending a wave of pain up his leg and tripping him. He scrambled up quickly, only to realize he had lost it.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of wings being whipped open, and he spun around, ignoring the shooting pain in his ankle. He saw a tall, long haired girl jump, throwing open wings as long as his, and taking to the air. Realizing he wouldn't be able to run, he followed suit, bursting through the trees.

A flash of green zoomed behind him, and he quickly followed it. The girl moved constantly, zooming up, then dropping way down, then switching directions, trying to confuse him. It was a good idea, but it didn't work. After a few minutes she dropped down, skimming the tree tops. He followed immediately; he put on a burst of speed, getting right up behind her. She glanced at him and lost her course, crashing into a high branch. She tumbled, down, tucking in her wings to avoid them getting cut. He followed more gracefully, landing right before her. Careful to not put pressure on his ankle, he watched as she fell out of the tree, watched as she twisted in midair like a cat to get her hands and knees under her. Hitting the ground hard, she rolled over onto her back, gashes all over her legs and cuts all over her hands. He hands and knees were definitely going to bruise.

"Ow," she muttered, pushing herself up. Fang moved quickly, standing in front of her, making sure she couldn't leave, although he doubted she'd even try after her meeting with the ground.

"Don't move," he warned her. She looked up and seemed to see him for the first time. She sat up all the way. He watched her wearily. She ignored his instructions, pulling her backpack off her back.

"Don't move," he told her again, grabbing her backpack out of her hands. She scowled at him, scooting back so that she could lean against a tree. Not taking his eyes off her, he rummaged through her bag. He found nothing suspicious in it, just food, water, a phone.

"Who are you?" he asked, dropping her backpack behind him so that she couldn't reach it.

"Why does it matter? I know who you are." She retorted, crossing her arms. He felt surprise register across his face before he wiped it off. She smirked at him.

"Your blog? Being with the Flock? It pretty much makes you famous." He breathed out, he had forgotten about that.

"Who are you?" he asked again. She acted hurt, but the gleam in her eyes ruined the image.

"Fang, you don't remember me? I really shouldn't be surprised. You always have forgotten what you don't want to remember." she said dismissively. "I guess you could call me an old acquaintance."

He narrowed his eyes at her, she didn't look familiar. "I don't know you."

"Sure you do, Fang. Honestly, you would think you could at least remember where you met me."

"The school, where else would I have met a mutant like you?" he said, racking his brains. He kind of remembered a voice like hers, long ago. But hers was older, not as high pitched as the one he could barely remember.

"I'll give you a hint. You think I'm dead." She informed him, crossing her legs in front of her. He stared at her for a few more seconds. He thought she was dead? Who could that-?

He went rigid. Everything fell into place. The voice, not as childish, but still very similar. The comment on how he thought she was dead. Heck, now staring at her, he could easily imagine her as the young girl he knew.

"No…" he whispered. The smirk on her face melted, giving way to a small, nervous smile. Fang just stared at the girl.

"They killed you, how are you alive Jewel?" The small smile on the brunette's face slipped off.

"They did kill me; they just brought me back to life. You know Ari?" Fang nodded, feeling bad about how he had treated the Eraser. "They brought him back to life too, but they healed me before they healed him." Fang smiled slightly, remembering what he had told Max, '_You just can't kill people like you used too.' _

"Where's Max?" Jewel asked. Fang looked away. She stared at him.

"You split up? Why the hell would you do that?" She cried, outraged. Fang silently held out his hand and she took it, using it to pull herself up. Standing, she was only an inch or too shorter than Fang's tall frame.

"Come on, let's introduce you to my new family."


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Maximum Ride**

Fang glanced behind him, checking once again to be sure that Jewel was behind him. He winced slightly as he walked, his ankle still hurt from tripping. Jewel looked up and met his eyes.

"Sorry about your ankle," she said guiltily. Fang grinned at her, she was still the girl who acted like everything was her fault.

"It's fine, it's not bad, probably just a bruise." He reassured her. He hesitated for a second. They were walking to the restaurant the gang was at. "How did they kill you? You were supposed to escape with us." Jewel sighed, adjusting the backpack hanging over her shoulder.

"They were doing tests, specifically about poison. They were trying to find out how much poison my body could take. It hurt like hell, Fang. It wasn't poison that killed you quickly. They had all the antidotes. But one of the poisons I reacted too violently. They never told me which one it was, though I've figured out that they made it themselves, I was just the guinea pig for it. It felt like my body burst into flames. I was apparently dead for three days, I have no idea how they fixed me. For Ari, I know they fused some bones in his neck. They couldn't really do that with me. I overheard them say that most of my internal organs had been, like, melted through. I was probably in surgery for three days." Jewel wrinkled her nose. "But what happened too you guys after Jeb rescued you?"

"Well, we almost got caught. Max, Iggy and I had started to freak out when Jeb told us that you were killed. Iggy especially. But we had to get Gaz, Angel, and Nudge out. After that, we basically just lived in this house in Colorado until about a year ago, when Erasers attacked." The winged boy went on to tell the green-eyed girl everything that had happened to them.

"I was there in Paris, but I escaped pretty quickly. After you guys left, they didn't make too many other avian mutants." Jewel said sadly. Fang grimaced, pulling open the door to the little restaurant. Scanning the room, he found his friends near the back, sitting in a booth.

"Come on, they're over here." Fang led the girl over to the gang.

"Fang, you're here!" Star said, moving over so that Fang could sit. Jewel came over more shyly, coming up to stand besides Fang. Everyone at the table stared at her.

"Who's she?" Ratchet jerked his head at Jewel. Maya glared at the girl, while Kate, Star, and Holden just looked at her curiously.

"I'm Jewel." Jewel said softly. They didn't hear her. She raised her voice slightly. "I'm Jewel."

"Well, Jewel," Maya stared at her, "who are you and why are you with Fang?" Jewel held her gaze.

"You're Max 2?" Jewel asked. Maya sat back.

"Yeah, but I prefer Maya." She told the new girl. Jewel rolled her eyes. She looked like she was about to say something, but restrained herself.

"How do you know Fang?" Kate wondered. She shifted over. "Here, you can sit." Jewel sank down slowly into the seat as Fang took the one across from her.

"We were friends back at the School." Jewel said quietly, placing her backpack at her feet. All the looks directed at her softened. Everyone there knew about the School. "I was supposed to escape with them, but I couldn't." Jewel looked down, playing with the hem of her shirt. Everyone was quiet for a minute, not sure what to say. Holden broke the silence.

"We were just about done, unless you want anything." He told them. Jewel and Fang both shook their heads.

"I guess we're done." Jewel got back up and moved out of the way so Kate and Ratchet could get out. Kate stretched, and the other four got out. Holden started to weave his way around tables, heading towards the door.

"We better go follow Starfish." Ratchet followed the younger boy. The rest caught up and started off on the short walk to the motel. Fang noticed how Jewel glanced at Maya often and stayed as far away from her as possible.

"Well, Jewel, have you heard about the Doomsday group?" Star asked. Jewel nodded, but didn't elaborate.

"Are you all mutants?" she asked, looking over everyone. Everyone nodded at the same time. Kate decided to start.

"Yeah, I'm Kate in case you didn't know, and I have enhanced strength." Jewel nodded, and turned to Holden.

"I'm Holden, or Starfish, and I can heal myself in seconds." He said.

"So if I chopped off your arm, you could heal it?" she clarified. Holden smiled.

"Yep," he said cheerfully.

"I'm Star and I have super speed." She disappeared as she ran way ahead of them. A few seconds later she was back.

"I'm Ratchet, and I have enhanced senses."

"Is that why you're wearing sunglasses?" Jewel wondered. He nodded.

"I thought I broke those," Star frowned.

"No, I found this pair at the bottom of my bag." He smirked. Jewel gave a small smile.

"We are here!" Ratchet said dramatically, walking through the door of their room. Everyone filed in but Jewel. Fang turned back to her.

"Come on, they won't bite." He gave her a small smile, but the grin from earlier was gone.

"I can't stay here," she said, not meeting his gaze, "I can't work with Max 2."

"Maya," he corrected, and watched as she scrunched up her nose. "What?"

"She was perfectly fine going around as Max," she muttered. Fang felt his temper flare up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, as Maya stuck her head out the door.

"What are you two doing out her?" she asked, looking between them, Jewel with her arms crossed and Fang looking mostly calm.

"We'll be in in a minute." He told her. She nodded uncertainly and went back in.

"I mean she was thrilled to be Max back at the School." She shot back. He gritted his teeth.

"She's different now," he insisted. Jewel shook her head.

"I find that really hard to believe. It takes more than what she went through to change her attitude. She is Max's clone, and Max never changes her mind."

"What did she do that makes you hate her so much?" He stared at her. She held his look evenly.

"If she remembered she probably would hate me too. And I don't think you want to know what she did at the School. I don't trust her. She was like the School's mascot." She said scornfully. Fang's hand curled into fists.

"Why would you say that?" he asked, trying to stay calm.

"Because you didn't see her there!" Jewel hissed. "Max is a great liar, isn't she? I will never trust that girl. And neither would you if you had a brain." Fang stared at her.

"You've changed. The Jewel I knew would never have said that." Jewel grinned at him, but it was feral, wild. She stepped closer.

"Fang, I escaped right after Maya escaped. Jeb helped both me and her. I've been living by myself for months. Honestly, I don't need your help right now either. I'm looking for Max. I have information she'll want."

"What's it about?" he asked. She regarded him coldly.

"You left the Flock, I don't think you deserve to know." She said, her voice just as cold as her gaze. "And I don't want Maya to know."

"I don't hate them." He said as calmly as possible, deciding to ignore the comment about Maya.

"Then why'd you leave?" she asked, the wild look in the eyes relaxing.

"Dylan," he said simply. Jewel sighed.

"That doesn't surprise me. I don't like him either, although not as much as Maya. Poor guy doesn't have a choice." She murmured. She sighed, pushing her dark brown hair behind her ear.

"Look, I need to go see Max. Do you know where she is or not?" she asked. Fang thought about it for a minute.

"I would guess Paris, but, honestly, I have no clue. She might still be there looking for Angel." Jewel's head snapped up.

"What do you mean, looking for Angel?" she looked panicked.

"Angel, she's probably dead though. She was right next to the explosion." Fang explained.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" she looked like she was trying to stay calm.

"I forgot," he said truthfully. She looked at him.

"Fine, give me your phone, I need to call Max."


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Maximum Ride**

(Max POV)

I was a mess.

Ever since the Paris accident. We had stayed in Paris the night after Fang left, but we had all quickly decided we didn't want to stay in the city. We didn't want to leave Europe, but being anywhere near France was horrible. Nudge had offered Italy, and we could easily hide in Rome. I mean, there's a whole other country in it. So Rome it was.

We were camped out on the top floor of the Coliseum. Right now, I was supposed to be sleeping while Iggy was on his shift. But whenever I closed my eyes, images from Paris came to the surface.

The only one who was worse than me was Gazzy. The poor kid barely ate anything now, barely slept, and almost never talked. Being Angel's sister, I wasn't surprised.

We were supposed to be trying to find my mom aka Dr. Martinez, and Jeb. But we all needed to just unwind before we started. I wasn't really sure where Fang and I stood, but I wasn't expecting to see him for about twenty years, so I figured I was fine not knowing.

I looked up at the sky. It was only about six, so there were still tourists everywhere, but Nudge had dragged us all around the city, so everyone was tired.

A harsh noise cut through the relative silence. After a few seconds I realized it was my cell phone. I didn't want to talk to anyone, though, and since no one seemed to be being woken up by it, I decided to leave it be. I heard shuffling, and I opened my eyes slightly to see Iggy digging through my backpack to find the phone. I watched as he found it and flipped it open.

"Hello?" he asked. "Who's this?" Iggy sounded tired and worn out. Angel's death had hit us all hard. I was expecting him to hang up immediately, but he suddenly sat up straight, looking surprised and slightly mad. I rolled onto my stomach, and Iggy must have been really surprised because he didn't react. I knew he heard me though; he had the best hearing out of us all because he's blind.

"What do you want?" he hissed. "I don't care, Fang, if you're being attacked by crazy aliens from Mars, go away. I don't want to talk to you." My eyes widened. It had been two days, why the heck was he calling?

"Maybe because it's your fault!" Iggy snarled. "If you had never called us we would never have been in this position!" I stared at Iggy, amazed. I would never have thought that was what he thought. He and Fang were still kind of friends, I had thought. Now I'm not so sure.

"There is nothing you have that we could want," Iggy slumped back down, leaning against stone. He suddenly got angry again, except now it was about ten times worse than before. "She is dead! She was killed. Jeb told us years ago. You can't make people come back from the dead." I slowly sat up. The hand that wasn't holding the phone curled into a fist. "Itex killed her. She's not alive! I wish she was, but she's not. So if all you're going to do is lie to me, then-" he cut off suddenly. I got up and sat next to him, tapping his hand to let him know I was here. He jumped, and turned his head towards me.

"Give me the phone," I whispered, Iggy shrugged.

"Here's Max," he said shortly, shoving the phone in my direction. I took it and held it to my ear, watching as Iggy stood up and walked to the edge of the stone floor. He just stood there, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Max?" a familiar voice on the other end asked.

"Fang, what do you want?" I asked coldly, still watching Iggy. "And what the hell did you tell Iggy that made him this mad?" He started to say something, but I cut him off. "If you're asking for help again, forget it. Unless it's about Ella, Angel, Jeb, or Mom, go away. Helping you only got Angel killed.

"I think you'll want to hear this." Fang said calmly on the other side. "Wait a second." I could hear his voice while he talked to his gang. "Maya, don't go through her stuff!" I heard a huff but then Fang started talking again.

"Sorry about that."

"If it has anything to do with me number two, I don't want to hear it." I said. Maya and I didn't flat out hate each other too much anymore, but I was in a really bad mood after watching him annoy Iggy. Fang sighed in annoyance.

"Look, I know Paris sucked," I snorted but didn't interrupt. "But I have someone who wants to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to them." I said immediately. In the background I could hear a girl.

"Really Fang, you could just tell her, considering you won't let me near the phone!" a voice called.

"Who's that? A new member of your gang?" I asked. Fang sighed again.

"No, her name's Jewel." My blood froze.

"If you're talking about the one I know, she's dead." I replied.

"No, she's not. I thought she was too until she showed up." He told me.

"She's dead, the School killed her. End of story." I said flatly.

"Please, can you meet me in Germany? She says she has information you'll want, but she won't tell me because she doesn't want Maya to know it." He pleaded, which surprised me. Fang doesn't beg, or plead.

"Well, she sounds smart," I said. Fang growled in frustration.

"Please Max? You can leave immediately if you want. But she refuses to work with Maya, and considering she told her right to her face, both hate each other now." I thought about it. We had nothing to lose. And honestly, I was curious.

"Fine, we'll be there around one tomorrow. Tell me where you're staying." I ordered. He told me than hung up. Flipping closed my phone, I went towards Iggy.

"So we're going to Germany?" Iggy checked, sounding much calmer now.

"Yep, it's probably not going to be fun." I sighed. Iggy heard me and hugged me.

"Did he tell you about Jewel?" he asked quietly. I could hear how hopeful he was that she really had survived. Back at the school, it had originally been Fang, Iggy, Jewel, and I. Fang and I had become close, while Iggy and Jewel had become best friends. Losing her had been hardest on him.

"She's dead, Iggy." I said softly. He let me go and nodded.

"Can you take this shift?" he asked me, voice cracking.

"Of course Iggy." I told him, and watched as he expertly walked over next to Gazzy. He lied down, and a minute later he was asleep. I moved to where Iggy had been sitting and sat down.

So today, Nudge had dragged us all around Rome to shop and see random places, and Fang had called. And tomorrow we were heading back to Germany, where Fang's Gang was. Fun.

Shifting so that my wings were comfortable, I settled down to take over Iggy's shift.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Maximum Ride.**

(Fang POV)

They were waiting. Max was supposed to be here by now, but so far she wasn't. And everyone was either anxious or annoyed. Jewel couldn't stop moving; she was either pacing or bouncing, or extending her wings, all in all annoying almost everyone else. Maya was tense but trying not to show it, leaning against the wall and watching Ratchet and Star fight. Holden was eating chips, trying to stay out of everyone's way. Kate was the only calm one, sitting quietly on one of the beds and thinking. And Fang was just as nervous as Jewel, because he wasn't sure Max was going to show. She had made it pretty clear she hadn't really believed him last night.

"Where is she?" Jewel was muttering under her breath, extending her wings. One accidently hit Star in the face, knocking her off balance.

"Watch it!" she hissed at the brunette, who shrugged and turned away, re-tucking her wings close to her back. Fang saw Holden finish his bag of chips but not want to get caught in between Ratchet and Star, who were throwing insults at each other to pass time.

"I'm going outside," Jewel moved hastily away from Star as the girl gestured, nearly hitting Jewel. Jewel walked quickly towards the door, Maya watching her every move. Fang watched as his old friend slipped out it and sat down next to the battered door, scanning the skies for the rest of her old friends. Fang watched as Maya got up and sat down next to Kate, starting a quiet conversation.

Fang leaned back against the headboard of the other bed, releasing a sigh, He saw both Kate and Maya glance at him for a moment, but then they went back to their conversation. He wasn't sure how well today was going to go. The black haired boy glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table. 1:20, twenty minutes late. Breathing in, he closed his eyes and just listened as his gang went on doing whatever they were doing.

"I see them!" Jewel was suddenly over him, shaking his arm. Pulling it out of her grasp, he sat up and rubbed his eyes quickly. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he stood up and walked to the door of the room. He realized that the room had gone silent except for the sound of breathing. Jewel looked nervous, now that she was faced with seeing the Flock again.

Fang stepped out into the sunlight and saw that Jewel was right, six dark spots in the sky were flying towards them, quickly growing into the people he knew so well. Max landed first, her wings spread wide. Iggy landed next, his face looking at once hopeful and annoyed, as if he wasn't sure he really wanted to be here. Nudge looked tired as she landed with Gazzy, his blond hair tussled. Dylan landed last, scanning the sky quickly before returning his gaze to the scene in front of him. Fang glanced at the Flock and started to think that only Max and Iggy knew why they were here. Which didn't seem that surprising, considering they were the only two who really knew Jewel. Nudge might remember her barely, but she probably didn't remember the girl.

Although Jewel had hinted she knew Dylan…

"Fang," Max said shortly. She looked at the rest of his gang. "Star, Kate, Ratchet, Holden, Maya," she said, turning away from the last one. Maya glared at her, but Max turned away. "What do you want?"

"I told you last night, I found Jewel." He said easily. He glanced back at the people behind him and realized that Jewel couldn't be seen. "Jewel, get out here! You were the one who wanted to talk to them!"

The brown haired girl walked around the group slowly, twisting her green shirt in her hands before dropping it quickly when she saw the Flock. Max looked her up and down, and Fang watched as her face turned white in surprise, then hardened with disbelief.

"Who are you?" she asked the girl roughly. Jewel looked down nervously.

"Jewel, from the School." She pulled her hair to one side of her neck and started absently twisting it. Max narrowed her eyes at the gesture.

"If you really are Jewel, you can answer this." Max put her hands on her hips and stared at the younger girl. "When we first met, where were we, who was there, and what did I tell you?"

The brunette continued to look at the ground, although she stood a little straighter. "We first met at the School, Fang and Iggy were in testing, and you were trying to look after Nudge. The whitecoat shoved me on the ground and tied me to the wall, and you looked from me to the whitecoat and you looked disgusted because my wings were broken and bleeding, even though they had wrapped them. And then you told me I was lucky I wasn't in a cage. And then I told you I was surprised I wasn't and you stopped glaring at me. And then I offered to hold Nudge, although I didn't know her name, so you could have more room and Nudge might stop crying as hard." Max looked shocked.

"Jewel?" she whispered, stepping forward. Jewel nodded, still looking down at her feet, and Fang saw the girl at the school who had been timid and shy. Iggy's head had snapped up, his unseeing gaze locked on Jewel. Dylan was staring too. Nudge and Gazzy looked confused.

"Yeah," she said quietly. She looked up for the first time. She smiled shyly at the Flock. Max suddenly smiled back and Jewel looked relieved and walked forward until she was standing in front of the leader. She hesitated for a moment, then hugged the dark blond tightly. Max hugged back, whispered something in her ear, and Jewel nodded. Max disentangled herself, and Jewel turned to Iggy and flung her arms around him, surprising him for a second, before he quickly returned the favor. Fang's gang watched the exchange quietly, most of them looking confused, but Fang saw that Maya looked bored, as if she knew this was going to happen.

"What are you doing here? What happened?" Iggy talked quickly, not letting Jewel go. The rest of the Flock surrounded the girl, blocking her from view as she quickly outlined her story. Nudge looked like she remembered the green-eyed girl a little bit. Fang stepped forward, and the group broke up.

"Now what?" he asked calmly. Jewel was leaning on Iggy's shoulder, a smile on her face. Iggy looked just as happy to have his old best friend back. Jewel cut off Max.

"I'm going with them, Fang. But it was great to see you again." She said politely. She extracted herself from Iggy and hugged Fang. Fang hugged her back, even though he knew she would be leaving, he had missed Jewel when she had "died", even though he had never been very close to her. She had helped him back at the school when both Iggy and Max had been being tested on.

"And thank you, "she whispered quietly, although he wasn't sure what for. Fang nodded quickly and stepped away. Fang's gang watched on, although Kate and Star were whispering. Maya looked relieved that the Flock was leaving. Ratchet and Holden were a few feet from the group, tossing something between them to pass the time. Fang nodded and Max looked at him.

"There's been no progress on finding Angel. By now she probably is…" she trailed off, glancing at Gazzy, who was looking away stubbornly. Fang nodded once. He started to back away, but Nudge suddenly ran forward and hugged him, squeezing him hard. Her thin frame shook as he hugged her back. Max looked slightly surprised by her actions, but she didn't react, except her icy gaze melted slightly. She really did care about everyone in the Flock.

Nudge walked back to the Flock, slipping out of his embrace. Dylan held his gaze for a moment, then turned and jumped, throwing his chocolate colored wings out to catch the wind. He hovered above the rest of them, and Fang saw that Maya's eyes followed him. Iggy took off after him, Gazzy right behind. Nudge looked back, then leaped into the air, beating her tawny wings to catch up with the others.

Only Max and Jewel were left. Max held his gaze, and there was something vulnerable in it, making her look that if anything else were to hit her, she would shatter.

"Aren't you leaving?" Maya's voice filled the air, stopping Kate and Star's conversation. When Fang turned to tell her to stop, he saw she was glaring at Jewel, not Max, and that Jewel looked murderous. Max looked just as confused as he did.

"Yeah, why would I want to be near you any longer than I have to be?" Jewel shot back, stepping forward.

"Good bye Jewel." Maya turned around, her back facing the brunette.

"I hope I never see you again," Jewel called happily to Maya's back. Maya stiffened, but didn't turn around.

"Same, why would I want to be with a murderer?" she started towards the house until she heard Jewel's laugh.

"Is _that _what they told you?" Jewel laughed, everyone staring at her. "Of course, I really shouldn't be that surprised. I'll just tell you now, clone," she looked up and caught Maya's eye as the girl looked confusedly at her, "Your memories are wrong."

The air between the two girls was thick with tension, and everyone had stepped back a step.

"Come on, Jewel, the rest of the Flock is waiting for us." Max tugged lightly on Jewel's arm, and the girl followed the leader as she jumped into the sky. Jewel mockingly saluted Maya then beat her wings hard, quickly catching an air current and riding it away. Max and Fang stared at each other for a moment, and then Max followed her family into the clouds.


End file.
